Alan D. Romberg
Distinguished Fellow
Before Alan Romberg joined the Stimson Center in September 2000, he enjoyed a distinguished career working on Asian issues in and out of government, including twenty years as a US Foreign Service Officer. Romberg, who was Principal Deputy Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff and Deputy Spokesman of the Department, served in various capacities dealing with East Asia, including Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs, Member of the Policy Planning Staff for East Asia, and staff member at the National Security Council for China. He served overseas in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Additionally, Romberg spent almost ten years as the C.V. Starr Senior Fellow for Asian Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and was Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy. Romberg holds an MA from Harvard University and a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
The East Asia program focuses on the complex security issues confronting the Asia-Pacific region, including the rise of China, US alliance relationships in East Asia, North Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The program also seeks to increase US-Japan-China cooperation and coordination in security policymaking. Through its Visiting Fellows program, the program facilitates dialogue between regional security professionals and their counterparts in the United States.
Selected Publications
Alan D. Romberg comments on ECFA, the cross-strait economic agreement; (June 30, 2010) Chinese version available here
"Ma at Mid-Term: Challenges for Cross-Strait Relations"; by Alan D. Romberg, China Leadership Monitor, No. 33, Hoover Institution, Stanford University (Summer 2010)
Alan D. Romberg Comments on the Possibility of 'FTA-like' Deals for Taiwan; June 2, 2010
"All Economics Is Political: ECFA Front and Center" (China Leadership Monitor, No 32, Spring 2010)
"2010: The Winter of PRC Discontent" (China Leadership Monitor, No 31, Winter 2010) (In Chinese on the Carnegie Insight website)
"2010: The Winter of PRC Discontent" (China Leadership Monitor, No 31, Winter 2010)
Alan D. Romberg Comments on US Arms Sales to Taiwan and the Subsequent Backlash from Beijing; February 1, 2010
Alan D. Romberg Comments on US Arms Sales to Taiwan in an interview with CNA; December 17, 2009 (available in Chinese only)
"Cross-Strait Relations: Weathering the Storm" (China Leadership Monitor, No 30, Fall 2009)
Alan D. Romberg Comments on President Obama's first trip to China and the administration's China policy (in Chinese); November 10, 2009.
"Cross-Strait Relations: A Confederacy of Skeptics" (China Leadership Monitor, No 29, Summer 2009)
Alan D. Romberg Comments on the North Korean nuclear test; May 25, 2009.
Alan D. Romberg Comments on Ma Ying-jeou's First Year in Office; an interview with the Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 20, 2009 (available in Chinese only).
"Alan D. Romberg: Taiwan Entry in the WHA - A Step in the Right Direction," World Journal (San Francisco), April 30, 2009.
Jorge Liu, "Alan D. Romberg: Taiwan Attendance at the WHA Demonstrates Cross-Strait Originality and Flexibility," Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 29, 2009 (in Chinese).
Jorge Liu, "Alan D. Romberg: "The Three Agreements Signed at the Third Chiang-Chen Meeting Deepen Cross-Strait Relations," Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 27, 2009 (in Chinese).
"U.S.-Taiwan Relations: Looking Forward" Presentation at CSIS Conference on U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era: Looking Forward 30 Years After the Taiwan Relations Act, April 22, 2009.
Remarks to Conference on the Impact of Deteriorating North-South Relations on Six-Party Process, Sponsored by USKI, CSIS, and USIP, April 16, 2009.
"Cross-Strait Relations: First the Easy, Now the Hard" (China Leadership Monitor, No 28, Spring 2009)
"PacNet #17A -- 'Cross-Strait Moderation and the United States'-A Response to Robert Sutter" by Richard Bush and Alan D. Romberg (CSIS Pacific Forum, March 12, 2009)
"Cross-Strait Relations: Ascend the Heights and Take a Long Term Perspective" (China Leadership Monitor, No. 27, Winter 2009)
Jorge Liu, "Alan Romberg: Obama's Taking Office Will Benefit the Steady Development of U.S.-Taiwan Relations" Central News Agency (Taiwan) November 5, 2008 (in Chinese)
"Cross-Strait Relations: First the Easy Steps, Then the Difficult Ones" (China Leadership Monitor, No. 26, Fall 2008)
"After the Taiwan Election: Restoring Dialogue while Reserving Options" (China Leadership Monitor, No. 25, Summer 2008)
"Taiwan: Opportunities and Challenges" Keynote address at the CLSA Forum in Shanghai (April 15 2008)
"Taiwan: George Bush Meet Abba Eban" (Henry L. Stimson Center, April 21, 2008)
Jorge Liu, "Alan Romberg Urges Beijing to Adopt Creative Measures to Improve Cross-Strait Relations" Central News Agency (Taiwan) March 28, 2008 (in Chinese)
"U.S. Policy Toward Taiwan, Time for Change?" Position paper for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace debate series, Reframing China Policy (March 26, 2008)
Jorge Liu, "Alan Romberg: Election Victor Must Heal Societal Rifts" Central News Agency (Taiwan), March 23, 2007 (in Chinese)
"Taiwan Elections: Foundation for the Future" (China Leadership Monitor, No. 24, Spring 2008)
"Shifting Political Currents in Taiwan" (Henry L. Stimson Center, January 15, 2008)
"Cross-Strait Relations: In Search of Peace" (China Leadership Monitor, No. 23, Winter 2008)
"Future Cross-Strait Relations and a Possible Modus Vivendi" (Foundation for International and Cross-Strait Studies-Brookings Institute Conference, December 3, 2007)
“PacNet 45 - The U.S. “One China” Policy: Time for a Change?” (CSIS Pacific Forum, November 7, 2007)
"The U.S. “One China” Policy: Time for a Change?" (Neuhauser Memorial Lecture, Harvard, October 24, 2007)
"Applying to the UN “in the name of ‘Taiwan’” (China Leadership Monitor, No. 22, Fall 2007)
"Six-Party Agreement and the North-South Summit: An Opening for Korea?"
(Henry L. Stimson Center, October 5, 2007)
"Election 2008 and the Future of Cross-Strait Relations" (China Leadership Monitor, No. 21, Summer 2007)
"Future East Asian Security Architecture: Implications for the PLA" in Assessing the Threat (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, July 2007)
"U.S. Strategic Interests in Northeast Asia: 2009 and Beyond," based on a paper Alan D. Romberg delivered at the Korea Research Institute for Strategy conference in Seoul in June 2007 (will appear in the forthcoming issue of Strategic Studies)
"George Bush and Northeast Asia: Anticipating the Final Two Years" (April 2007)
Jorge Liu, "Alan Romberg Looks Positively on the Appointment of Wu Jau-shieh as the New Taiwan Representative to the U.S., Indicates Taipei Should Give Greater Consideration to U.S. Interests," Central News Agency (Taiwan), 19 March 2007 (in Chinese)
"Politicians Jockey for Position in Taiwan's 2007-2008 Elections, While Japan Jockeys for Position Across Strait" (China Leadership Monitor, No. 20, Winter 2007)
"Negotiating with North Korea: Bridging the Differences Among the Key Parties," Based on a presentation to a conference on Fostering International Dialogue on Korea Security, convened by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London (February 2007)
Jorge Liu, "Romberg: Public Response is More Important Than Ma Ying-jeou's Standing in KMT," Central News Agency (Taiwan), 14 February 2007 (in Chinese)
"The Role of the United States in Northeast Asia in the Wake of the North Korean Nuclear Test," presented at the Asia Foundation (December 4, 2006)
"Taiwan: All Politics, All the Time"(China Leadership Monitor, No. 19, Fall 2006)
"Permanent Peace on the Korean Peninsula: Quixotic Quest or Source of Stability?" (Korea and World Affairs, Fall 2006)
"The Taiwan Tangle" (China Leadership Monitor, No. 18, Summer 2006)
“Recent Developments in Taiwan: Politics in Command -- But at What Cost?” (CSIS PacNet Newsletter, February 14, 2006)
"The East Asia Summit: Much Ado About Nothing--So Far" (Freeman Report, January 2006)
"The 4th Round of Six-Party Talks: Negotiating for Success" (PacNet Newsletter, July 2005)
“The Perspectives from Beijing” presented at a roundtable discussion at the Atlantic Council entitled The Japan Factor in Cross-Strait Relations (April 2005)
“Promoting Cross-Strait Stability: Avoiding Catastrophe” (CSIS PacNet Newsletter, March 2005)
“Cross-Strait Relations: Avoiding War, Managing Peace” for the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei (November 2004)
“Political and Strategic Implications of China's Growth” for the conference China's Growth and the World Economy in Beijing (September 2004)
“US Policy After the Taiwan Election: Divining the Future” at the SAIS China Forum (March 2004)
“Support Taiwan Democracy, Not Referendums” (CSIS PacNet Newsletter, March 2004)
“Six-Party Talk, Round Two: In Search of a US Policy” (Pacific Forum CSIS, February 2004)
“Will President Bush's stance on Taiwan undermine democracy in East Asia?” (Insight On the News, January 2004)
“US-PRC-ROK Triangle” by the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security as part of a three-volume series entitled Coping with Korea's Security Challenges. (January 2004)
"Rein In at the Brink of the Precipice: American Policy Toward Taiwan and US-PRC Relations" (Henry L. Stimson Center, October 2003), click here for a summary and reviews.
“Dealing with North Korea: The Key Foreign Policy and Security Challenge for the U.S.-ROK Alliance” (Occasional Paper 49, June 2003)
“The North Korea Nuclear Crisis: A Strategy for Negotiations” (Arms Control Today, May 2003)
“North Korean Threat Spirals Toward Disaster” (International Herald Tribune, March 2003)
“China and Missile Defense: Managing U.S.-PRC Strategic Relations” coedited with Michael McDevitt. (Henry L. Stimson Center, February 2003)
“Taiwan and U.S. Policy: The Diplomatic Dimension” at a conference entitled Taiwan and U.S. Policy: Toward Stability on Crisis (October 2002)
“Addressing the Taiwan Question: The U.S. Role” (Occasional Paper 47, July 2002)
“Some Thoughts on Cross-Strait Relations” (Occasional Paper 46, July 2002)
“Taking Exception to a U.S.-PRC Fourth Communique” (Occasional Paper 45, January 2002)
“China's Sacred Territory, Taiwan Island: Some Thoughts on American Policy” (Occasional Paper 44, January 2002)
“Taiwan in US-PRC Relations: A Strategic Perspective” (Occasional Paper 43, December 2001)
“Taiwan and US-PRC Relations” (Occasional Paper 42, September 2001)
